


Pardon My French

by tazerlicker



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkwardness, Bilingual Character(s), Getting Together, M/M, My First AO3 Post, Swearing, i don't know how to tag i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 02:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12201657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tazerlicker/pseuds/tazerlicker
Summary: Friends will try to find out if your crush likes you back. Best friends will loudly tell embarrassing stories about you in front of your crush and then encourage you to make a move with threats.Yahaba and Kawanishi are Shirabu's best friends.





	Pardon My French

**Author's Note:**

> I've been meaning to post this forever but I always want to change something... Fuck it, here goes nothing lol. It's 1am and I need to post this before I have second thoughts again. Hell, I might even edit it again in the morning ahaha
> 
> [normal text = speaking Japanese (or whatever language that's generally used wherever they are)]  
> [italicized text = speaking French (or whatever foreign language you prefer)]
> 
> I got this idea from tumblr. It was something like: coffee shop AU where character A talks about character B in a foreign language and character B actually understands everything they're saying because they also know that language

His shift had barely begun and Osamu already wanted to go home. He didn’t hate working at the coffee shop but after the terrible day he’d had so far, all he wanted to do was to go home, curl up in bed, and watch Netflix until he fell asleep. There were only two people in the shop and one of them hadn’t even ordered anything. Osamu decided he may as well wipe down the countertops for the umpteenth time...

 

Fortunately for his sanity, three guys walked in at that moment. Osamu looked up and gave them a warm, welcoming smile. The tallest had spiky, light-brown hair and a bored expression on his face. He gave Osamu a brief nod in greeting. The second guy was pretty cute; he had very soft features that gave him an innocent look. He flashed a bright smile. The third was a familiar face. He’d come into the shop several times before. He was unusually pretty and had bangs cut at an angle. What was his name again… It was Shira-something. Shira… Shirasu? 

 

Before Osamu could think about it further, Shira-something Angle-Bangs stepped up to the counter. 

 

“Hey there,” Osamu greeted him in his well-trained, dealing-with-a-customer voice. “What can I get for you today?” 

 

“Uh… A large black coffee, please.” He seemed hesitant to look Osamu in the face directly. 

 

“Sure thing,” Osamu punched the order into the register. “Anything else?”

 

“Uh… N-no thanks.” 

 

“Alright. Can I get a name for the coffee please?” 

 

“Shirabu.” 

 

“Gotcha. Thanks, Shirabu. I’ll get that right out for you.” Osamu gave him a warm smile that drew the shorter man's gaze directly to him.

 

Shirabu’s eyes widened and he glanced away quickly, though his lips seemed to curve upwards ever so slightly. He nodded and walked towards a table to wait. 

 

The cute friend bounced up to the counter. “Hi there!” 

 

“Hi,” Osamu grinned, “How can I help you?”

 

“Hmm… I’ll take a white chocolate mocha, please!” 

 

“Sounds good. Can I get your name?” 

 

“It’s Yahaba. Can I get yours?” He asked with a wink. 

 

“Miya.” Osamu gestured to his nametag, an amused expression on his face. 

 

“Thanks, Miya!” Yahaba flashed another smile and sauntered over to a table by the counter. He looked towards Shirabu and called out, “Hey, Shirabu! Let’s sit over here!”

 

“What? Why?” Shirabu gave him an irritated look from where he was sitting across the shop. 

 

“I like the lighting better over here,” Yahaba shrugged. His sweet expression shifted into something a little more mischievous. He spoke his next sentence in French, “ _ And I know you like the view over here better, too, don’t you? _ ” 

 

Shirabu’s face flushed and he glared daggers at him. He replied angrily in French, “ _ Oh my god, shut up! _ ” 

 

Yahaba laughed and Osamu watched them interestedly. He’d studied French for several years and while he knew eavesdropping was rude, he just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to practice his comprehension skills and listen to some casual, real-life conversation. 

 

“Sorry about them,” the tallest of the group spoke from right in front of the counter. Osamu jumped slightly; he’d forgotten to take his order. “They’re a bit… obnoxious sometimes.” 

 

“Ah, don’t worry, they’re fine. Anyways, sorry about that, thank you for your patience. What can I get for you?” Osamu quickly turned his attention back to the customer, who was giving him an unreadable look. It almost seemed like he knew that Osamu’s intrigued expression was in regards to what Yahaba and Shirabu had been saying rather than just general interest in the fact that they were speaking another language.

 

“Just a latte for me. And my name is Kawanishi.” 

 

“Gotcha. Thank you very much! I’ll have that ready for you shortly.” 

 

“Thanks.” Kawanishi walked towards the table that Yahaba and Shirabu now occupied. The other two seemed to be arguing about something. 

 

“ _ I’m telling you, there’s no point in getting coffee if you’re just going to sweeten it to hell _ ,” Shirabu was saying.

 

“ _ I’ve heard that you are what you eat _ ,” Yahaba remarked casually, “ _ Is that why you like your coffee all dark and bitter and I like mine all nice and sweet? _ ” 

 

“ _ Oh, fuck you! _ ” Shirabu growled. He opened his mouth to say something else but Kawanishi cut him off. 

 

“ _ Watch your language, Kenjirou _ ,” he chided calmly with a faint smirk on his face. 

 

“ _ Shut up, Taichi _ .” 

 

Shirabu Kenjirou. Osamu didn’t know why but that name seemed to fit him perfectly. Wait, why was he even thinking about this? He decided to just chalk it up to boredom as he continued making their drinks.

 

He was glad he turned on a blender right when he did because Yahaba made him laugh when he blurted out, “ _ Hey Kawanishi, did Shirabu tell you about how he fucking faceplanted into Semi Eita’s crotch in class today?”  _

 

“ _YOU SHUT UP_!!” Shirabu roared. 

 

“ _Indoor voice, Kenjirou_ ,” Kawanishi said with a smirk. 

 

“ _Fuck off, Taichi_.”

 

“ _ But anyways, no he didn’t,”  _ Kawanishi continued their conversation fluidly.  _ “How the fuck did that happen? I mean, I suppose Semi’s attractive but damn, you really need to work on your subtlety, Kenjirou.” _

 

_ “I hate you both so much,”  _ Shirabu growled, steadily turning darker and darker pink. 

 

_ “Oh, shut up, you know you love us."  _ Yahaba smiled sweetly.  _ “Now, about earlier… Shirabu was running late and he was rushing to his seat but someone had left a backpack in the walkway. Semi had just pushed his chair back to stand up and then Shirabu tripped over it and poor Semi got a lapful of Shirabu’s face.” _

 

Kawanishi burst out laughing and Shirabu buried his face in his arms on the table.

 

“Orders ready for Shirabu, Yahaba, and Kawanishi,” Osamu called out, setting the drinks on the counter. He hoped the smile on his face just seemed friendly and not like he was trying to hold in his laughter from hearing Yahaba's story.

 

Yahaba sauntered over, smiling brightly. “Thank you, Miya!” 

 

“Thanks.” Kawanishi grabbed his cup. 

 

Shirabu didn’t say anything when he picked his order up, still blushing fiercely. He looked pretty cute… 

 

“ _ So, Kawanishi _ ,” Yahaba began once they’d settled back down at their table. “ _ What do you think? _ ” He asked pointedly.

 

“ _ I think he’s very attractive and Kenjirou needs to find a middle ground between acting like a cold, distant bitch muffin and shoving his face into their crotch when it comes to interacting with his crush _ .” 

 

Shirabu nearly spat out the sip of coffee he’d just taken. “ _What the fuck is a 'bitch muffin'?! And_ _ I don’t have a crush on Semi! And I sure as hell didn’t do that on purpose! _ ” he spluttered indignantly. 

 

“ _Yeah,_ _ I know, so let’s address the other problem: the man you’ve been pining after for weeks serves you a coffee with a smile and you don’t even look at him, let alone say ‘thank you’? _ ” 

 

Shirabu dropped his head to the table again.

 

Kawanishi continued, “ _ I know you’re better with words than that. What was it you said to me the other day? Something along the lines of… ‘That mysterious barista I’ve been ogling for weeks is so gorgeous that I just want to take him home and-- _ ’”

 

Kawanishi’s sentence was cut off as Shirabu slapped his hand over his mouth, looking furious and flustered. Yahaba cackled in the background.

 

_ “Shut the fuck up right now or so help me…”  _ Shirabu hissed.

 

_ “Relax.”  _ Kawanishi pushed Shirabu’s hand away, rolling his eyes.  _ “How likely is it that anyone around us right now can understand us?”  _

 

Osamu accidentally let out a laugh which he immediately changed to a small cough. Shirabu glanced at him nervously before turning his gaze back to Kawanishi. 

 

_ “In any case,”  _ Shirabu sighed,  _ “I didn’t say that. I just said that this barista at this coffee shop I found is mysterious and interesting and good-looking. You added in the other shit, you fucker.” _

 

Before Kawanishi could respond, Yahaba’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and sighed.

 

“Hello, what the fuck can I do for you?” he answered brightly. “I know you’re calling with good news, or else you wouldn’t be calling at all, right?” Osamu heard the underlying threat and suddenly got the feeling that Yahaba wasn’t as sweet as he seemed. Yahaba maintained his smile but his eyes darkened. He was kind of terrifying. “I’m not even going to waste my time trying to comprehend how you screwed up that badly. You have ten minutes to get your shit together.”

 

He hung up the phone viciouslys and gathered his things. “ _ Shirabu, you better get his phone number or else I’m not letting you back into the apartment tonight, okay? _ ” 

 

“ _ You don’t scare me _ ,” Shirabu replied coolly. “Now get out of here, you fucking psychopath.”

 

Yahaba gave him a cold smile before waving and saying, “Bye bye!” as he walked briskly out the door. 

 

Shirabu and Kawanishi talked a bit longer until Kawanishi glanced at his watch and swore quietly. 

 

“What?” Shirabu asked. 

 

“I have class.” 

 

“When?”

 

“Uh… ten minutes ago.” 

 

“Holy shit, Taichi.” 

 

“Yeah… Ok, I’ll see you later then. _And you_ _  really should ask that guy for his number or something before I stop resisting the urge to kick your ass into gear myself. _ ” 

 

“Whatever. Run, you dumbass.” 

 

Kawanishi threw up a peace sign before dashing out the door.

 

Shirabu sat at the table by himself. His brow was slightly furrowed and he looked a bit anxious and very lost in his thoughts. He took a few deep breaths before standing up and walking over to the counter.

 

Osamu smiled at him. “ _ Hey there, how was your coffee? _ ” 

 

“ _ It was delicious, thank you. I just wanted to ask you… _ ” Shirabu froze and his eyes grew wide as realization dawned upon him. “You speak… Did you hear… What did you… Oh, fuck.” 

 

Osamu gave him a sheepish grin. “ _ I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude on you and your friends’ private conversation. It’s just really difficult to find people to practice with around here so when I heard you speaking, I wanted to listen. I hope you can forgive me _ .”

 

“ _ What the hell are you talking about? I should be saying that! We were talking about you right in front of you and you understood every word… _ ” Shirabu trailed off looking absolutely mortified. 

 

“ _ Wait, that was me you were talking about? _ ” Osamu asked, grinning. He knew it had been; he just wanted to tease Shirabu a bit because his facial expressions were hilarious.

 

“ _ H-hey, please don’t pass out or anything _ ,” Osamu added quickly, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

 

“ _ I’m not going to pass out! _ ” Shirabu snapped, face burning with embarrassment. 

 

“ _ Just making sure _ .” Osamu held his hands up in surrender. “ _ I just wanted to say something... _ ”

 

Shirabu eyed him warily. Osamu took a deep breath and continued, “ _ I’m really flattered by what you think of me. I also think you’re very interesting and attractive and I’d really like to get to know you better. _ ” 

 

The look Shirabu was giving him was almost pure disbelief. Osamu was fairly certain he saw a small glimmer of hope though. 

 

“ _ Well, regardless, I’m Miya Osamu. Please call me Osamu. I have a twin brother so I usually just go by my given name. Anyways, it’s nice to meet you. _ ” He held his hand out. 

 

Shirabu snapped out of his daze and shook Osamu’s hand. “ _ Nice to meet you, Osamu. I’m Shirabu. Shirabu Kenjirou.” _

 

That damn blush kept creeping back onto Shirabu’s face and he hoped it was just him being overly paranoid but he swore Osamu’s grin widened ever so slightly, like he’d noticed how that simple handshake had affected him. 

 

Osamu grabbed a coffee cup sleeve and a marker and carefully wrote his name and phone number down. He handed it to Shirabu. “ _ Feel free to use it anytime. _ ”

 

Shirabu took the sleeve and nodded mutely. 

 

_ “Ah… I, uh, I better get back to work. It was nice talking to you, Shirabu. Let’s talk again soon, yeah?”  _ Osamu flashed him a genuine smile. Shirabu nodded and gave a shy smile in return. Unbeknownst to either party, the other felt the same little jolt in his heart at that moment. 

 

Shortly after, Shirabu gave a small wave as he walked out the door and Osamu decided that the day hadn’t been that bad after all. 

  
  
  


Bonus: 

Osamu and his twin brother, Atsumu, were lounging on the couch at home later that evening watching television. Osamu had told Atsumu about his day at work. Atsumu honestly hadn’t seemed all that interested. 

 

Osamu’s phone sat on a throw pillow next to him. It emitted a loud ding that notified him of a new text message. Atsumu had been absorbed in the show on TV and jumped at the sound. He glared at Osamu who wasn’t even paying attention to him because the message was from a number he didn’t have saved in his phone. He opened it quickly and read: 

 

[From: Unknown]

Hey Osamu. This is Shirabu Kenjirou from the coffee shop earlier today. I figured it’d only be fair if you had my number as well, since you gave me yours. You don’t have to save it or anything though. Just if you want to. Have a good evening. 

 

Osamu smiled. Shirabu's awkwardness was strangely endearing. Atsumu noted his brother's facial expression and huffed. “Is that French-speaking guy?” 

 

Osamu nodded, mildly surprised that Atsumu had been paying attention. He quickly saved the new contact information, clearly very pleased with how things had turned out. 

 

“I don’t get why you look so proud of yourself,” Atsumu said flatly. “You literally heard him and his friends talking about how he had a crush on you and wanted your number. It’s not like you really had to do anything brave there.” 

 

Osamu replied by throwing a pillow at his face. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading! I hope this provided you with at least a little bit of entertainment lol 
> 
> And if not, I'm very sorry ;;;
> 
> I will try to improve! See you next time!


End file.
